Retail search volumes 'on up'

Published: 22nd Jun 2016

More and more people are taking advantage of increasingly quick satellite broadband services by performing online retail searches.

Figures provided by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed the number of people looking for stores via the internet grew by 14 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with the corresponding three-month period in 2011.

The research also discovered that the popularity of tablet devices soared towards the end of last year, as the number of shoppers using such gadgets to find retailers rose by an incredible 273 per cent year-on-year.

Smartphone searches were up by 76 per cent, the organisation confirmed.

"This strong growth shows how online retail really came of age this Christmas. It's playing an increasingly significant role at every stage of the customer journey," commented BRC director general Helen Dickinson.

Tony Woolfson of Small Business Support Services UK recently warned companies they risk losing out on trade if their websites are not easily accessible to mobile phone users.